In English, the spelling of words does not always represent(代表)the sound. And some words seem to have too many letters. An American called Noah Webster wanted to do something for the development of English, so he began his work on it. His first book,  The Elementary(基础的)Spelling Book, suggested making the spelling of English words easy. The book was very popular. In fact, Webster is famous for his American Dictionary of the English Language. This dictionary came out in 1828 after it was completed. It introduced lots of new American words, with information about their pronunciation, use and the new spelling. Today,  Webster's dictionary is still widely used in English-speaking countries.

    [1] I'm a 34-year-old man, married, lived in a nice house, and have a successful career. But my life was not always so great. I had a learning disability from an early age. I went to a special school where I got plenty of extra (额外的) help. Still, I suffered the rest of my school days in public schools.

    [2] My life improved greatly when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to a workshop and gradually became good at making things with clay. Here I learned my first important lesson: disabled as I was in language, I could still be smart and well express myself with clay. And my confidence（自信）came along.

    [3] I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was scared from the start. ⑶I soon noticed it wasn't a talent thing; it needed lots of practice. So I did it more. After about five years of climbing, I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall. I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.

    [4] Later I decided to learn ⑷①          to read and write. I practiced reading and ⑷②          , which I used to avoid as much as possible. After two years, I was literate(有文化的).

    [5] Through the long process with art, ⑷③             , and reading and writing, now I've got to a point in my life: I am smart enough to dive into (潜入) an area that is totally unknown, hard, but interesting.

    In Western countries, most children get pocket money by doing some chores at home. They usually start to do chores at the age of ten. School students have to do their homework and study for test, so they don't have a lot of free time on weekdays and they often do some chores on weekends.

    Young kids can only do easy chores, so they don't get much money. But many of them only want to buy candy. And candy is cheap! They do the dishes after dinner and feed the pet cat or dog. Sometimes they water flowers and other plants in the garden.

    When kids get older, they want to buy more things. They want something more expensive than candy. Then they have to work harder. They often wash the car, cut the grass of feed the dog.

    Some chores can help kids learn new things. It is important for kids to learn how to do chores and help their parents with housework.

    A ratio compares two numbers. For example, if you have 3 pens and 4 pencils, the ratio of pens to pencils is 3 to 4. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 3 to 4, 3:4 and 3/4. One type of ratio is expressing (表示) numbers as a percent. A percent is the ratio of a number to 100. In other words, a percent compares one number to 100. The percent means "per hundred". {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You can use "%" to express percent. So 35% means 35 out of 100, and 15% means 15 out of 100. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Probability means the chance (可能) of some things happening in the future. For example, if there is a 90% chance of rain, 90 times out of 100, it will rain. That is a very high probability. However, if the weatherman says that there is only a 10% chance of rain, then 10 times out of 100, it will rain. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    You can also express probability by using ratios. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 5 of them are black while only 1 of them is red. If you choose a pen at random (随机地) from the pencil box, then the probability of choosing a black Den are 5 to 6, or 5/6. On the other hand, the probability of choosing a red pen is only 1 to 6, or 1/6.

    Spring Festival is the most important festival in China. On Chinese New Year's Eve, family members get together and have a big meal. In many places people like to set off fireworks. Dumplings are the most traditional food. Children like the festival very much, because they can have delicious food and wear new clothes. They can also get some lucky money from their parents. The money is given to children for good luck. People put New Year scrolls(卷轴) on the wall for good luck. Spring Festival lasts 15 days. People usually visit their relatives and friends. People enjoy Spring Festival very much, because during this time they can have a good rest.

    For many smart phone users, especially young people, scanning QR Codes(二维码)has become a new and convenient life style these days. In fact, the QR Code was created in Japan in 1994, but until 11 years later, it was first used in China. It soon became popular around the country. The QR Code is much-loved because it provides a way to get to website more quickly. By scanning QR Codes, people can do lots of things, such as adding new friends, getting information, downloading Apps, shopping and so on. As for the shopping websites, there are usually more sales, including coupons(优惠券)for the phone users. The QR code is so common that people can scan them everywhere.